Sunday, November 12, 2006

The Importance of landing pages



A landing page is the first page a visitor to your site sees. This page is simple, compelling and clear. It is not the place to write a novel. A landing page is simply a web page to which visitors are directed to when they click on a result from the search engine.



Ensure that your landing page is relevant to your keywords and your ad text. If you seek sales or leads online, your current landing page is like a hay farm. Make sure that it is considered an essential part of the campaign. A bad landing page is like a bad toupee, a wrinkled suit, or a dirty car. How your landing page is designed impacts your conversion rates!

The first question to ask about any home page or landing page is this: What is this page's primary objective. And for good reason: The landing page is the all-important first impression a prospect gets when visiting your Website. The landing page is your only chance to convert online searchers into leads or customers. You want them to complete the one action on which your landing page is focused which can be a form where they give you their e-mail address and name in exchange of an e-book or e-course or maybe for just a subscription to your newsletter.



The objective of the landing page is simple: get the reader to move to another page. Find a way that focuses your visitor to subscribe to your list. The landing page is where conversion happens, so it should be clear and compelling, with a strong call-to-action. The best way to write an effective landing page is to think of it as the irresistible continuation of your sales letter.

Before you start to design your landing page, define that page's conversion activity. When using a paid insertion to the search engines (such as pay-per-click), the design of the landing page is critical for the success of the advertisement. Establish Trust With Page Design. Your landing page should be just as attractive and carefully designed as your home page. Design your landing page to show them the merchandise and then lead them to the checkout line. As you design or redesign your landing page and website, make the user experience a high priority! Make sure the graphics, layout, and form design match the look and feel of the campaign and are user-friendly.

Those landing pages you pay for so dearly are a logical place to begin your solid commitment to better conversion rates. The conversion rates for an identical keyword phrase can vary radically depending on what type of landing page a search results link leads to. The ad copy has an effect on the page's conversion rate too. Once the ads have been running for a while, review the conversion metrics for each of your keyword/landing page combinations. Remove all distractions that aren't pertinent to the conversion goal. Visually lead users toward conversion. In order to increase the conversion of keyword advertising, create continuity between your keyword and your landing page. Make them ready to move along the conversion process: to submit a form, contact a rep, or make a purchase.



Nothing kills conversion rates faster than a navigation bar on your landing page!

You can tune your landing pages to convert better by testing your landing pages. Test which advertisements drive highest conversion! When testing, send an identical ad to each landing page, comparing the conversion rates for each page. Regardless of your bid strategy, testing new keywords is an investment.



Testing should be an ongoing process in site design!

Yeah the landing page is the juice that makes your e-mail list and number of leads grow! Landing page is where the actual action takes place. If your email campaign is the shiny wrapper, then the landing page is the candy bar.

I hope you enjoyed the article!